Mitch Joel, President of Mirum, digital expert and host of the Six Pixels of Separation podcast series, interviewed me and Howard Moskowitz about our work in cognitive economics. We talk about mind genomics, cognitive economics, research we’ve done, such as the classic study of red wine, and our book Millennials, Mindsets, and Money, which is in development.

Now, Moskowitz is pushing his work further with Stephen Rappaport (a former executive for the Advertising Research Foundation and business book author). Their work is looking to help brands rethink their consumer behavior through the science of mind genomics in a specialized area they call cognitive economics. Using robust listening studies mapped against consumer segmentation techniques, they’re unearthing fascinating and new consumer intelligence on how consumer behave. Enjoy this very fascinating conversation…

The “Ideas from Outside” conference Moskowitz and I spoke at opened with a panel discussion moderated by Sari Katz, Partner Manager of YouTube Canada. She assembled a panel of four very popular Canadian YouTubers. I needn’t mention them by name. One had a cooking show, two were long-time friends who created comedy programs, and the fourth was a director and producer who has his own show and creates videos for others, brands included.

They appeared similar on the outside: mid-to-late 20s, backgrounds in communications arts, especially film and video. They aim to build media brands and work with advertisers, and they are aggressively metrics-driven in their decision-making. You might think that they would be alike because we typically assume that people who share characteristics are alike. That’s the logic underlying almost all segmentation. But when we listened closely to them talk about their viewers, subscribers, ad clients, and how they went about building their businesses and brands … they were remarkably different … on the inside: There were three unique mindsets up there, We called them the Marketer, the Storytellers, and the Rugged Individualist.

Consumer Mindsets Tuesdays shares original research on the mindsets consumers hold towards products, services, or experiences, ranging from airlines to wine. DId you know that three different mindsets towards red wine exist, each which very different views on what interests them? I’ll show that next week.

The mindset research uses the science of Mind Genomics – that’s why a genome is the logo, and its specialization Cognitive Economics. These approaches will be explained over time.

Digital Metrics Field Guide now available for pre-order is SHIPPING NOW from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Independent Booksellers in the US and around the world
The Digital Metrics Field Guide is the definitive reference for brands of all sizes who use the Web, social media, mobile, or email for marketing, advertising and consumer engagement. It is written for the marketing, media or advertising business person whose job requires selecting, understanding and acting on the performance of their digital communications. Read more about the Field Guide …

Interested in learning about Mind Genomics and Cognitive Economics? Howard Moskowitz and I are sharing our Dropbox stuffed with books (over 20), peer reviewed articles, original research, and presentations for free and without any obligation. Access the Mind Genomics Dropbox.

Discover which messages, and which combinations of messages, drive interest up or down, and by how much … and compare them across mindsets.

Compute the dollar value of each message or mixture, to uncover the trade-offs that people make. A message that raises interest may not increase the perception of value.

Create or modify products to meet consumer needs and interests, and advertising or communications that are proven to increases sales.

I will be writing about our work weekly from here on out, probably on Tuesdays. Please feel free to get in touch with me anytime about this work, via email or by filling out the contact form.
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Howard Moskowitz and I are being interviewed by Mitch Joel on stage at “Ideas from Outside,” a one-day event put on by the Canadian Marketing Association on January 20. The conference focuses on identifying and working with innovative ideas from fields other than marketing, media, and advertising. For those of you who know me, this is near heaven.

Our session topic: how to know a person through mind genomics and cognitive economics and use that to communicate more effectively.

For way too long, innovation was treated primarily as a creative art or gathering of ideas. Who hasn’t participated in brainstorming sessions, art classes, tours of successful companies … anything to get us out of our mental boxes and free up our creativity? The sad result remains that new product success remains stuck at about 20%. But if innovation and new products are the lifeblood for business growth, this percentage must go higher. More of the same has not done it, or will do it.

The emergent movement towards innovation science offers a way forward. This fledgling field is taking shape under the guidance f the International Association of Innovation Professionals, or IAOIP. Their first conference, Innova-Con is January 14 and January 15, 2014 at Polytechnic Institute of New York University School of Engineering. Some of the topics that caught my eye are:

Outcome driven innovation: a new lens for growth

Product life cycle mangement and innovation

Business model innovation

Using idea operators to create new and improved ideas

Design as a catalyst for innovation

This conference is the first I’m aware of that focuses on cognition and innovation, which is an area that I explore using the theory of mind genomics, the method of Rule Developing Experimentation, and the research discipline called cognitive economics. This one should be interesting.